The Midnight Man

This film tells the story of a man who cannot feel any pain due to a generic condition. He becomes a successful crime gangster as a result. One day, he is sent to kill four of his own mates, and everything breaks loose.

"The Midnight Man" is an action film with a twist! It is such an obvious choice for an action film in retrospect, and the idea really works. Why I haven't seen films like this, I do not know. The main guy, Grady, is real tough but he is also sensitive. His relationship with Zan is convincing too. They are both very good, and make the film more enjoyable and convincing. It has a lot of fights and action, but it doesn't appear senselessly violent. I enjoyed watching it.

I was expecting a weak thriller also-ran, but instead I got a very entertaining, unusual drama. A lot of movies are challenged by how to inform the viewer about what's going on, but the addition of a hostage is well engineered and gives us our everyman for exposition. She also provides a fantastic foil for a somewhat complex idea and has great chemistry with the protagonist.

A very unusual concept sets the movie apart but doesn't mire us down in overlong explanations or monologues. In fact many ideas that might have been over-dramatic in other movies are efficiently dispatched with a few lines. For example, establishing that our hostage has a young daughter (and thus a vulnerability) is handled in about three lines of dialog. I say this as a compliment, as the screenwriter has expertly relied on the audience to pick up on things instead of spelling out every single detail. This gives the dialog (and the movie) a very comfortable, natural feel.

The biggest twist of all was learning who wrote and produced the movie - a fantastic first outing for a pretty talented actress. I hope we see a lot more from her in the future.

In a world where action movies become more visceral, more demanding in their production and cinematography, "The Midnight Man" employs a sluggishly poor combat. Nevertheless, it also offers a few funny exchanges with solid script and presentable acting performance. The end product is a somewhat enjoyably one night stand with glaring flaws which are forgivable depending on your expectation.

Grady (Will Kemp) is a fixer for a mob boss with unique ability to not feel pain. In one bad night, he must eliminate four targets that may have more connection than he thinks. There's a shade of Ryan Reynolds here, as Will Kemp dons a similar witty agent while running from one bizarre situation to the next. He gets the jester part right, although there's some shoddy moments when trying to emulate a hardened criminal.

Brinna Kelly as Zan, the unlucky paramedic who got caught in the crossfire, is a fairly decent love interest and weird partner. Usually, this kind of Jason Statham's Transporter suave romance doesn't pay off, but the acting and chemistry makes it work more often than not. The supporting cast like Doug Jones and William Forsythe also deliver on the outlandishly named and portrayed characters.

The problem, and it's a rather significant one, comes when it tries to do action sequences. It's utterly horrible, bordering on Bollywood level. This makes the sturdy, flamboyant or charismatic characters into feeble men trying to deliver a punch and fail. At a couple of points it becomes ridiculous, which perhaps might be serendipitous or even intentional, but it betrays the serious thriller tone it just builds for five minutes.

Messy and sketchy, but hilariously entertaining at times. it's a sloppy trudge through a peculiar night elevated by its clever and humorous script.

I can't see any reason why DC Hamilton and Brinna Kelly aren't household names yet. Both of the films I've seen that they've worked on together - this and "The Fare" - are outstanding in both writing and low-budget directing. I'm sold; they are both the real deal. This is an excellent little crime drama with a cool, unusual hook to it.

Hamilton knows how to get good performances out of actors, which is not as easy as it seems. And the art of making a tiny budget look great on screen is pretty rare too. This film definitely pulls that off.

Finally, let's especially hope that Brinna Kelly gets a lot more writing work before she's pulled in to full-time acting. She's obviously good at that, with a glamorous look and compelling personality, but she's an even better writer. Original story ideas combined with compelling characters - that's a rare thing to come by these days. This is highly recommended.

This is a bit of a strange movie. A few minutes in and we were undecided as it was a little offbeat! At first I was thinking, hmmm, what's the caliber of the acting here, but it doesn't take long to realise that it's actually great given it's intentions. This is a great mix of humour and action and really really original. I found it refreshing to see something that made me think "hey, there are still people out there making movies that involve a bit of thought!".

The 2 lead actors are both excellent in their roles and play well together. But it's also some of the minor parts that really made me grin. And a good ending. So rare. So pleasing when you feel that the end warrants the (easy) investment. I would say that anyone that thinks this is mediocre doesn't get the point of this movie. For us, it was a movie that made us feel like we were part of the fun. Not many movies make me chuckle a lot, this did. Suspend your belief and just enjoy it!